Today I tried both versions with Bolero: standard speakers and Canton.

 

I must say that Bolero with standard speakers is OK for regular non demanding listeners and should be OK for must of the buyers.

 

For those more into music (quality, not just volume) Canton is a good option. The sound is more full and "better" although is not

much better than standard speakers. As I said in different topic it would be better if they put in better front speakers/amp and IF they must - woofer

under passenger seat. And both systems are lacking low mid-frequencies.

 

I like music so I will definitely opt for Canton, although it not "perfect". 

So in summary, Canton is not perfect but definitely better than standard sound and worth the money. Nough said.

Plus all there's plenty of Canton owners say it improves a lot over the first month or so.

I love my music and am very against poor sound quality. I never had the disposable income to justify rinsing serious money on really high-end home hifi (I would do if I did) but did over the course of a year or two a good while ago build up a nice £1k separates system with B&W 601 S2's and a 100W powered Yamaha Advanced YST subwoofer. It was good enough to be cranked right up without sounding shart and rattled the hell out of my house.

I ended up giving it all to a mate after the wife got fed up with all the gubbins, wires and that it was only a matter of time before our little boy pulled over one of my atacama speaker stands and killed himself. Sad times but there we go.

That said I opted for the standard system in my car and I have to honestly say im now not regretting it at all. The standard system once set up correctly (needs an unnatural amount of bass and midrange boosting but the speakers cope with that admirably) and allowed to run in sounds very good, it just does something to slightly cap sound output if you really turn it up but gather the Canton is similarly inflicted. Still able to turn it up to borderline uncomfortable volume levels without any noticible distortion or degredation and in terms of actual quality its good. The system in my old MK2 was a fair bit bassier and louder but I wouldnt say it actually sounded any better, the MK3 system is a bit punchier and tighter if anything and better for it.

I actually think many of those who have said it sounds **** are actually being rather unfair to it.....Im not suggesting Canton is not better than the factory setup as thats not the case but when you quantify it....is it £400 actually better than the standard sound system given its getting on for being one of the more expensive options on the car most people would honestly have to say no. Its certainly no substitute for a good home system; none of my car stereos have sounded as good as my budget 1k system and doubt they ever will.

Id suggest if youre budget concious in any way shape or form just ignore the urge to tick the canton box and save yourself the money, its really not all that regrettable not to.

Edited 25 February, 201412 yr by pipsyp

I think that's it in a nutshell: I have a colleague with the standard stereo and he's happy enough with that, although he did originally consider the upgrade. Probably not worth spending £400 you don't have to get it. Mine is significantly better than when I first got the car and the sub is solid and rattle-free. However, whether it's just mine I don't know, but the door speakers do start to bang and distort at high volumes and the trim rattles like a good 'un with any resonant bass notes. The sound quality is good and the extra bass is quite punchy and effective, but as the man says, the standard system is plenty good enough.

I had a courtesy Ocatavia Elegance car last week with standard sound system and I was delighted to get back my own car with canton. There's a big difference in sound quality ....

I am going to be very hacked off if Canton does not sound better than the standard system in the old MK II, which in my opinion was pretty good. 

I am going to be very hacked off if Canton does not sound better than the standard system in the old MK II, which in my opinion was pretty good. 

 

I've borrowed a FL Mk2 VRS for a couple of days and was pleasantly surprised by the stereo. It seems better than I remember in my 06 Mk2

I've borrowed a FL Mk2 VRS for a couple of days and was pleasantly surprised by the stereo. It seems better than I remember in my 06 Mk2

Always been impressed by mine, maybe a bit in yer face bass and a bit of quacky treble. But I have always likes bass. I hate thin sounding systems, which some people might term detailed. I like a rich sounding system, without that muddy sound which tends to happen when the midranges are too dominant.

What do you get as standard then?

 

In Ireland it's listed as a "Swing" which is the basic spec unit but with the Ambition you get extra speakers. Sounds like the head unit is still a Swing though so no Bolero. I presume the Canton needs the Bolero?

 

In almost all markets, the lowest-trim base unit is the "Swing" (there's sometimes an even more basic unit called "Blues" which has a lot less functionality).

Swing has a smaller, monochrome and non-touch screen as compared to Bolero so you don't get any pretty touch-based menus and no radio station logos, functionally they should otherwise be identical. (Some Skoda brochures also claim that with Swing you don't get the parking sensor data displayed on the screen whereas in reality you will). Oh, and with Swing the disc and SD-card slots are in the head unit (more room in glovebox!).

The only other difference is that there's a whole bunch of options that Skoda generally won't sell you unless you buy Bolero or a navi unit: these incluse Canton, Mitsumi, lane assist, parking assist, DAB radio, voice commands.

Got me thinking now. Couple of questions:-

 

1. Is the Canton sub, when fitted in a Combi, in any way fragile or easily damaged? Also does it use up much boot space?

 

2. If not opting for the Canton, has anyone tried an easily fitted amp and/or sub addition that they could recommend?

1. No, no and no. It's exactly the same as for the hatch.

 

2. Just look a couple of posts back, someone said he's just installed one.

Also does it use up much boot space?

 

It takes up the nook by the boot door on one side. You'll have to decide if it's much.

Considering a 4 Year rental that's less that 2£ a week. At that price Canton has got to be worth a go.

 

For me it's not just about the music but also a deep rich sound for phone calls will be excellent.

Canton also supposedly does environmental sound cancellation (according to Skoda videos), not that I can find any evidence of it working.

I must admit that I couldn't tell you whether there was noise cancellation or not: there's no visible settings on the touch-screen and if it is cancelling noise, it's at a very subtle level.

A very newbie post, my first in fact as i just ordered my VRS today, having had a prior test drive - so today I popped in with the express intention of testing the bluetooth and sound in the demo car. My only conclusion was painful treble, regardless of other levels, and a very thin sound. That's been enough to make me spec. the Canton, although I'm very mindful that a new demo car will have had very few 'listens' and the speaker's are probably as raw as they were when it left the factory

The Canton in my new car doesn't sound as good as I remember the showroom demo one being, but it's only had twenty minutes use so far, and I'm expecting it to loosen up and improve over the next few weeks.

One week and 3000km after collection I must say it begins to sound different. I even had to lower bass on the equalizer (not the sub tho), it go so intense that the doors started to rattle.

I have a new 1.8TSI hatch to use while I'm waiting for my VRS to turn up in two weeks. Has the normal system with Bolero, by far not as good as what I had in the Scout. Sounds tinny with no midrange omph. Still going from 12 speakers to 8 and no amp should have guessed.

Should have specced the Canton damn it..

Edited 2 March, 201412 yr by snala

 

 

Edited 2 March, 201412 yr by snala

I collected mine on March 1st, with Canton on it, and I have to say its the highlight of the car for me.

 

Yes I love driving it, yes its a fantastic drive, yes it has lots of buttons and odds and sods to play with, however, I do enjoy listening to music, the difference between with and without Canton is night and day!  The Canton even at this early stage with music over BT at a lower than CD quality bitrate and its is exceeding my expectations, its rich and crisp and a nice level of bass and treble adjusted to how I like to listen to my music.

 

It is certainly a very good addition to my car, and if what people say is true and it gets better with time etc then I am looking forward to many hours of listening pleasure.

 

Note, I am not an audiophile, so maybe my ears don't pick up all the different tones etc, but, I do know what my music wants to sound like to me, and in this case, the Canton ticks the boxes, its a £400 upgrade ultimately, not a £4000 upgrade so I expect it will have limitations but, for me, its perfect!

 

Anyone in doubt about getting it, do it, you won't regret it!

I have to agree with James_1974200 above. I also picked the car up yesterday - March 1st -  with Canton and Columbus and it already sounds excellent. It's significantly better than the setup in my previous Octy MkII.

 

Worth noting that I have twiddled with the settings a little to get a punchier sound; however, there's plenty of adjustment, so I'd imagine most users would be able to get the sound the way they like it.

One thing to watch for is that (at least for me) if you are playing music via bluetooth the sound setting is for low by default which makes music from your phone sound poor until you adjust the settings. 

Got me thinking now. Couple of questions:-

 

1. Is the Canton sub, when fitted in a Combi, in any way fragile or easily damaged? Also does it use up much boot space?

 

2. If not opting for the Canton, has anyone tried an easily fitted amp and/or sub addition that they could recommend?

I didnt go with the Canton upgrade..

Last week a had a Focal Bus 20 Integration flat amp bass fitted under the drivers seat, that gave me 150w of bass that was missing in the car...

well worth the money, £300 fitted